Charming Habits
by Shinomori's Woman
Summary: Old habits die hard but new ones?
1. Chapter 1

**Charming Habits**

**A/N:** This is just too cute! It's a drabble collection. My favorite! These are in pairs. Please tell me which are your favorite Of them! Please! Then I'll write more…I have three more plots in my head.. waiting to be written ... if you even leave 5 reviews, I'd start and upload them soon!

"**Teas and Toffees"**

Misao stared at Aoshi's serene face. She always did, as he meditated. After minutes or so, he would slowly open his eyes and Misao would greet him a beaming good morning and start their tea ritual. Her mouth also went on letting him know about every tit bits that went around the Aoiya and the town. As she'd hand him his cup, Aoshi would mutter a simple,

"Thank you."

"Oh! Mention not, Aoshi-sama!" came her usual cheery reply.

They'd drink their tea, on his part, in silence except occasional _Hmmm_'s and _Aa_'s and a lot of chattering on hers. After that, they's bask for a few minutes in comfortable silence .

"Let's go home, Misao ." Aoshi would stand up and wait a moment for Misao.

"Hai!" Misao would jump to her feet collecting her tea materials.

Together they'd walk home in content.

….

"Aoshi-sama?" Misao tentatively asks.

"Hai, Misao?" comes the calm voice of Aoshi.

"Aoshi-sama. I'm hungry." Whines she.

"Would you like some soup?"

"No." She says meekly.

"Some rice balls?" Asks he.

" Iie." Come the reply.

"Noodles?"

"No!" shouts the growing woman.

A deep sigh is heard.

"The usual?" comes the tired voice.

"Hai!" Chirps Misao happily.

Aoshi gently walks out and comes back with every kind of sweets the Aoiya contained.

"Arigatou anata!" The gratitude is muffled due to mouthful of sweets.

Aoshi smiles concernedly at his beloved wife and says,

"Misao, you have been eating nothing but sweets since you conceived. Do you think it would be enough for you and the baby? The doctor said…"

And like every other night, a sticky sweet is shoved into his mouth to pause his concern. And with practice of six months, Aoshi goes to sleep with an extra sweet mouth.

"**Beds and Blankets"**

Aoshi stared at her cuddling body from his position at the cold floor as Misao slept. Thanks to Misao. She'd taken hostage of the entire futon. Her face rested between both their head rests. One of her arms was thrown over one side of the bed as the other clutched the sheets on the other side possessively. Her one leg was dug angularly into the sheet such that it left no place in the lower half of the bed and the other happily rested in Aoshi's said part of the futon.

Aoshi smoothed his hand down Misao's messy head and smiled to himself as he remembered how little Misao-chan slept the same way his wife does.

One more night, Aoshi sat on the cold floor admiring his sleeping savior.

….

Misao sat curled on one corner of the futon she shared with Aoshi. It was the beginning of winter and the wind was chilly. She shivered as the icy breeze caressed her lithe form. She tugged the corner of the blanket she _was supposed_ to share with her beloved husband in futile effort to get her fair share.

Sure Aoshi was a possessive man but when it came to blanket, he was over-possessive. In plain words, Aoshi hogged the sheets. So, he just rolled over, taking the entire blanket with him more protectively.

And Misao wound into a ball in her layers of clothing she'd just gotten from the closet to avoid the chill.

The next morning Aoshi woke up and wondered for the umpteenth time in his life that why the heck did Misao wore such thick clothes at mid-night when they had a blanket large enough to cover them both.

"**Cuddles and Clasps"**

Everybody knew Misao loved to snuggle. She'd snuggle with whoever she shared the bed with…which has always been Aoshi for the most part. Aoshi knew firsthand what _snuggling _meant to Misao.

Ever since he had been married to her, he had noticed a slight change in her cuddling process . Earlier, when she was a child, she would just snuggle impossibly closer to his body and nestle her chubby face in the crook of his neck. But now, it was different but very significant at the same time.

Since their first night together, Misao had snuggled close to him as per habit. Her pretty face was also, to his delight, pressed to the sensitive skin of his neck . And then he noticed the change in her embrace.

One of her arms snaked around his torso and fisted in the back of his yukata. The other clutched tightly into his collar at the front, making him inescapable from her protection.

It wrenched his heart. Since his return to the Aoiya, to_ her,_ she has been fearing that he might leave again. Hence, such cautions.

Like the very first night, Aoshi leaned in and placed a kiss on the top of her head and wrapped her up in his own embrace…a promise, never to let go.

….

Since the death of his fellow comrades, Aoshi never had a wink of peaceful sleep. No matter how much she meditated or prayed, no matter what he did, the nightmares kept coming back ..again and only time he could actually sleep was when Misao was by his side. Her warmth, her scent , her very presence made him feel safe, kept him sane and peaceful. So, every night when the slept together, and Misao being the ball of energy she was, wandered away from him in her bounciness , Aoshi couldn't bear it. It made him feel empty, _alone_.

But he couldn't even bring himself to pull her closer lest she should wake up from her much needed slumber. After all, she worked all day in the Aoiya as the prettiest hostess. Also, she still had the habit of doting after him every half hour.

Hence. He'd found himself a cure for his distress. Every time Misao rolled away stranding him in the futon leaving him cold, Aoshi would very carefully reach her and gently pull a few strands of her long, _long_ tresses only to wrap them around his knuckles with tender love. He'd bring his face close to his fist and smell the sakura blossoms in the blue-black silk in his clasp. The scent lulled him to sleep, the connection made him feel safe.

And some mornings, Misao would wake up to find an unmanageable, particularly tough knot in her hair.

…..

That's all for now folks! Please review! If you like them I'll upload some more! Hugs and kisses,

Songhamitra.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I'm late. I know I promised but I was kinda blank. So this is to express my apology.

_**Aging & Assurances**_

Misao was having one of _those_ days again. She felt the years crawling up to her, ever so slowly. No matter what Omasu and Okon said, nothing never worked.

"You are _only _20! For kami-sama's sake, Misao!" Okon tried to comfort the said aging girl.

"20! Girls get pregnant _twice _at twenty!" Screamed a sobbing Misao. Omasu's even-we-didn't-find-our-man-at-20 didn't work. That usually calmed her down. But _today_, was an excellent exception.

"Today I'm 20! Then I'll be 21 _and then_ I'll be 50!" Misao was inconsolable, or so it seemed. But nobody dared question that 50 never came after 21. "Look, I even have grey hairs!" Young maidens didn't, but neither of them questioned that either as they tried to find the grey lock that disturbed the youngest shinobi so. Failing, Omasu chirped,

"Where? I cant find any."

"Its because your eye-sight has gone weak, YOU OLD WOMAN!"

Omasu shot back instantly. "Who are you calling an old woman you OLD MAIDEN!." At least she was married now. Ooops! the wrong thing to say! Misao had already broken into dramatic sobs .

"I'm never going to find love! I'm already an oldie! Aoshi-sama's never going to look at some _grey-haired, fat, ugly grandma_ like me! I'm ruined! Whose going to marry an obaasan like me!"

"I will." The reply came from a monotone, male voice. Apparently, Misao's sobs had reached the Okashira's office from her quarters.

"You will, Aoshi-sama?" Misao blew her nose, and wiped her tears as she asked again, while Aoshi tried not to be disgusted by the nose blowing. Not that she didn't believe him, she just wanted to be sure.

"Aa.." With that Aoshi returned to his office. And once, again, Misao had burst into violent sobs. But this time, they were tears of happiness.

Downstairs, Aoshi groaned as he bitterly thought, _not again. _

...

Aoshi hated going to the market. He absolutely despised it. You want to know why? Because he didn't like it when people said,

"Its such a shame that a hunk as Shinomori-san has aged so fast." A teenager whispered to her best friend as they eyed the accused.

There you go again. In the above said circumstances, his only place of comfort was his wife's warm embrace. So, he did.

"C'mon Aoshi-sama! You are not _that _old!" Misao tried to comfort her distressed husband.

"_What_ do you mean by that old?" Came Aoshi's muffled reply from within Misao's arms.

"I mean , _you're _old but not that old." Clarified she. Aoshi instantly pushed away from her and glared at his young wife. "Oh! Aoshi-sama!" Misao lovingly pulled him back. "No matter how old you are, _I will always be __**only**__ ten years younger than you!" _

There, she did her best didn't she? But may be her hubby didn't agree as he muttered, none too assured,

"Did you _really_ have to say that?"

_**Heroes & Hide-outs**_

"AOSHI-SAMA!"

Aoshi to the rescue. In a moment Aoshi was by Misao's side who was bellowing from the kitchen , at present hanging by the window panels.

"What happened, Koishi?" Nothing can ever hurt his wife in his presence. Umm, or without it. He reminded himself to add it.

"Make it go away! Please! Please!" The only thing that was left for Misao to do was climb out the window to the roof. Aoshi's trained eyes searched for the culprit. Oh! _There _it was.

Aoshi determinedly stepped towards the enemy. You little eight legged freak! You dare to scare my wife? _Shinomori's wife_? Today is the last day you will see the light of this world...of this kitchen he corrected , as he threw the small spider out the other window.

He turned towards Misao with pride

"Oh! Anata! _You are my hero_!" Misao jumped down and rewarded him with a heated kiss.

Aoshi gloated mentally. After all, he'd saved the day _again._

...

"AOSHI!"

Aoshi flinched as he tried hard to disappear within the shadows of the store house. He might be the Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, but he was _just_ a husband to his young wife.

"AOSHI! I know you are here. Come out, now!" Misao commanded. Her eyes were on fire. She was furious.

"Please, Misao try to understand...I.." Aoshi tried to reason weakly.

"So, you _are _here, in your secret hide-out. Come-out, young man! You have a promise to keep." Now, Misao was getting impatient.

"But Misao I never said..." Aoshi was frantically search a way out of this. None but Kami could save ! His merciless wife. How had she coaxed him into this!

"Now, now. Anata, you don't want to upset me, do you?" Finally, Misao tried a different route.

No, he didn't. Last time he had, Misao hadn't let him touch her for 17 whole days _and_ nights! So, defeated he gave up and tiredly surrendered to his smirking wife.

"That's my good boy!" She patted him affectionately as they walked to their bed chambers.

That night, the world barely survived a sever heart attack as they witnessed Shinomori Aoshi visiting the festival dressed in _a pink and purple silk kimono_ accompanied by a over-joyous Shinomori Misao.

Tata!

Pls review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello friends! I'm back. I know my last drabbles weren't that good. So. many of you did not like them. These are for you as an apology. And those who did, this is a thank you gift. I write these you people! Your reviews make my world go round! Please?**

_**Roles reversed:**_

Misao looked lovingly at her sleeping husband, face currently tucked cozily into her bosom. A serene , almost childish innocence displayed upon that ever so serious face. She remembered the first time Aoshi had taken refuge in her chest, close to her heart. She still blushed at her embarrassed state that night. But she had remembered all those night she cried and had taken shelter within Aoshi's warm embrace.

On nights like this, days a little rough to make Aoshi go out of his protector role. And like a loving wife, Misao always held her husband a little tighter just to make sure he is well protected from his nightmares.

**...**

"Come out! I know you are behind that tree. Do you want me to come down there?"

The accused came out with timid steps from behind the tree.

"What's that in your hand?"

The attempt to hide the illegal item went futile. The small tree frog was let free.

"And you little sir! Come out from there! I can see you well."

A giggling three year old peeked from behind two _very long_ legs.

"What's the condition of your clothes?" Mud, soil and tree twigs only . " Bath. Both of you. NOW! And no outdoor for _you_ for two days."

" But Misao..." Aoshi tried to reason.

"_Bath. Now."_

Aoshi gave another pleading look to his wife, standing on the porch with her hands on her hips, what he thought resembled her own puppy eyes. But he knew he had failed miserably when her eyes narrowed and lips pressed tighter.

For the next two days, Aoshi gloomily watched from his window as his wife and son ran around the garden happily.

_**Fears & Festivals:**_

"Jiya, Have you seen Aoshi-sama anywhere?" Running all the way from the temple, Misao was panting to catch her breath.

"He should be at the temple. Isn't he there?" Okina replied from behind his cup of tea. Misao did not wait to reply. She had already rushed out when Okina called her from behind.

_Not in his room, not in the temple, not in the dining hall, not in the office._ Misao's heart stopped. _Did he..._

"Misao?" Aoshi was a little concerned at the way she was paper white and perspiring, not to mention huddled in the doorway.

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao lit up. All traces of tension gone. He was _still_ here.

**...**

Aoshi never liked festivals. The lights, the splendor, the crowd. It made him uneasy. But there was one thing he never told anyone. Shinomori Aoshi was scared to visit festivals. Right now , standing at the middle of a crowded fair, alone, he was frightened. A little feeling, slowly gripping over his heart. He was lost again. Just like when Misao was five. Amidst thousands of rushing people, Aoshi had lost his Mi-chan. , _again_. Like last time.

This is why he hated festivals. He was too young to remember anything when _**he **_was lost in the crowd. He had found a new home, the Ayoia. But what if anything went wrong with Misao? What if...

Just then a dainty, but warm hand covered his rapidly cooling one. He turned around to see a smiling face.

"C'mon Aoshi-sama! Festivals are not that bad! Its fun! And I'm here with you!"

Aoshi clasped her hand a little tighter and followed as she tugged along. _**As long as you**__**are here.**_

_**A.N: That's it!Pls don't forget to review.**_

_**In memory of Whitney Houston. We'll always love you!**_

_**Dear nibir, wish apuni a quick recovery.**_

_**Best of luck to baba. Congrats to dada for his wonderful presentation. Princoo...i ...hehe!bolbo na!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sweethearts & Sleepyheads**_

It was raining cats and dogs, creating small and big sized puddles everywhere along the road leading to the small but flourishing restaurant called the Aoiya. Aoshi sped up at the sight of it, his strides becoming longer, travel fatigue vanishing into the chilling air. Tucking the trench coat around himself more properly, he poised his hand to knock at the door but decided a good shower should be better before meeting his lovely wife. And oh how he couldn't wait.

After a very quick shower and clothed in dry clothes, he stepped into the Aoiya through the backdoor, knowing it should be left open for him since they knew he was coming. It took him a few moments to get used to the dark, but he was actually glad. No lights meant no one was awake which ultimately meant she was asleep. And that meant she wasn't up at this hour in this cold weather just for him. But he was wrong.

A small candle fought bravely with the wind, trying to stay alive , its flickering flame illuminating the slumbering form of a young woman propped very unusually on the table. _Misao._ A very rare smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He inched closer and soundlessly maneuvered her into his arms, carrying her to their room. His smile spread wider as he remembered a promise made years ago.

"_I promise you Aoshi-sama, no matter what or how long it takes, I'll always wait for you."_

* * *

><p>"And you know what happened after that?"<p>

"Hn."

Taking the non-committal grunt as encouragement, Misao continued to describe her encounter with the very unusual customer, who was actually an old farmer who lived just on the other side of the town. In all her enthusiasm, she failed to notice that her only audience at this late hours, her beloved husband was fighting to stay awake and failing miserably.

"And then he said that the woman was in fact a…."

She turned around in the futon to find her husband facing the other way, the darkness covering up his state of consciousness.

"Aoshi-sama?"

"Aoshi-sama, are you asleep already?"

A few nudges , a few more soft touch , another non-committal grunt which earned a pair of slim hands fisting accompanied with burning sea-green eyes.

"AOSHI!"

_**Chrysanthemums & Chocolate chip cookies**_

"Misao."

"Just a little more Aoshi-sama! Its not like I'm kidnapping you or something!"

"Right. Blindfolds are for saving the world from my burning gaze then."

"Haha. Very funny. Its called surprise!"

With a very dramatic TA-DA Misao pushed Aoshi into their bedroom pulling her obi away from his eyes. It took him a few moments to blink and get adjusted to the newly returned eye-sight and his mouth literally fell open.

"See! I knew you'd love it! Since you love flowers so much and I'm allergic to them, I always feel so guilty! Finally I found the only flower I'm not allergic to and decided to surprise you!"

Misao was bouncing off her feet in excitement and thus failed to notice the slight discomfort in Aoshi's otherwise stoic feature. He looked around and met with different colors of chrysanthemums greeting him from every corner of the room.

"So?"

Aoshi looked at his bouncing wife and it broke his heart to raise his palm to cover the upcoming number of sneezes that quickly rattled the whole structure of the Aoiya. In between sneezes, he delivered his shocked darling the tragic news.

"Misao, I'm allergic to chrysanthemums."

* * *

><p>"How could you even say that Aoshi-sama!" Misao was as dramatic as always. "You are the most important thing in the world to me! <em>Nothing <em>and _absolutely no one_ can ever replace you in my life! _You're_ the centre of my universe! You come first and every other thing comes _after_ that!"

Aoshi was taken aback( like it was anything new) by her outburst of emotion and affection for him. So, before he shared his ultimate secret with her, the one he had buried in his heart for so long, he decided to treat her to some of those new sweets that Gaijin shop sold. Seeing her devour those small cookies happily, it made him all the more satisfied. Now, he could share his sorrows.

"What….crunch….are…crunch…are …crunch...these….crunch…called?"

"Chocolate chip cookies."

Aoshi momentarily ignored the slight pang in his heart for the fact that she wasn't even looking at him when she spoke or he answered. It never happened before, were those sweets that delicious? He quickly brushed off the offensive emotion, it was silly. It was just a snack. Didn't she just say _he_ came first?

"Misao."

"Hn.( Crunch.)"

Aoshi ignored the painful crunch and started in a thick, emotional voice.

"I wanted to share with you , my secret…."

"Not now, crunch, Aoshi-sama.. .These cookies are awesome! Gotta finish them first!"

And she continued to crunch happily, leaving an extra jealous Aoshi to think of the most gruesome ways to kill the baker of those chocolate chip cookies.

**That's all. For now.**


End file.
